The growth in graduate recruitment is now being reversed, said Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

Gilleard was responding to a survey of 100 companies by market research firm High Flyers, which showed graduate vacancies had fallen by a fifth since last year for students graduating this summer.

He told Recruiter: “We have had five years of continuous growth in the graduate jobs market and there is no doubt that this trend is now being reversed.”